Mouth call help

[Poleaxe]

New to the site.  Second year turkey hunter.  I managed to tag 3 good longbeards last season but it was more because I had some great spots than my calling.  I've practiced all year with my pots and boxes, but I just can't make the slightest noise with a mouth call.  My wife having never touched one sounded like a veteran on the first try.  Someone told me I could cut them down and it may help, but it didn't.  Anybody got any ideas or some guidance?  Is it a lost cause or what?

[Marc]

Everyone can learn to use a mouth call...  Here are a couple videos that could be helpful:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3uPXoGEZeYg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cwPnzMPp5LQ

[turkeywhisperer935]

It is not a lost cause for you. Sure some people do end up sounding better than others but you can still kill a bird and not be a Eddie Salter on a diaphragm. The trick is practice, I lived with mine in my mouth when I started and the first sound I learned was a cluck and a cut. Once you figure one out the rest will soon follow. Take advice from calling DVDs or recordings and then figure out what techniques are easier for you.

[skridge]

It took me a couple years and plenty of different calls before i could sound like a turkey. I finally found a call that worked for me and practiced a lot with it. The wood haven black wasp was the one that i found to really start it off it seemed to fit my mouth good and was easy to use. I also found that if i put the call as far back as i could to the point where it almost gags me that that was where it needed to be to get a good sound.

[kwcb12]

Don't give up, when I first started I was in the same boat as you.  No telling how many different brands and cuts I tried but all I could make were some high pitched squeeks if any sound at all.  My problem was I couldn't get the placement of the call and seal on the roof of my mouth down.  One day I decided to try one of those calls with the hard plastic dome over the reeds.  I think primos made them but I see others make them now too.  Man it was light someone flipped a light switch.  It didn't sound perfect but I was making turkey sounds.  After a week or two I moved on to normal mouth calls then progressed from there.  This may be something to try.  Another problem I had was trying to do to much all at once.  Figure out the yelp and move on from there.  After a while you'll learn what works for you.  With lots of practice you'll get there.